Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed are journalists from the occupied Gaza Strip. Both were detained by Israeli forces on October 7 while they were reporting on the Hamas-led attack and are held in conditions constituting enforced disappearance. Since then, Israeli authorities have refused to disclose their whereabouts or the legal grounds and reasons for their arrest. Two and a half months since their disappearance, and no information has been shared about their fate or whereabouts.
Israeli authorities must immediately disclose their whereabouts and the legal grounds for their arrest, grant them access to legal representation and ensure their humane treatment. Unless charged with an internationally recognised criminal offence, they must be immediately released.
Sign onto the letter below to demand Israeli Military Advocate General discoloses their whereabouts.
Dear Brig. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi,
I am writing you today to express my grave concern over the enforced disappearance of Haitham Abdelwahed,
(25) and Nidal al-Waheidi (31), two journalists from the occupied Gaza Strip whose whereabouts have
remained unknown since 7 October 2023. The detention of the two journalists was widely documented on
that day as they were reporting from Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing. On 22 October and 2 November, six human
rights organizations based in Israel filed two urgent petitions before the Israeli Supreme Court requesting the
disclosure of the whereabouts of hundreds of Palestinians from the occupied Gaza Strip detained in Israel,
including the two journalists, the legal grounds for their detention and calling for the release of those
unlawfully detained. Two-and-a-half months since the two went missing while on duty, their families,
colleagues and friends, most of whom live in the besieged Gaza Strip amidst relentless Israeli bombardment
and frequent communication blackouts, have received no information about them from the Israeli authorities,
not even confirmation that they are still alive.
The families’ fears have been exacerbated by the Israeli army’s confirmation in November that two workers
from the Gaza Strip had died while in the custody of the Israeli military. As recently as 18 December, the
Israeli army told Israeli daily, Haaretz that a “number of” detainees from the Gaza Strip died in custody at
the military detention facilities in the Beersheba Airfield, also known as Sdeh Teyman, where hundreds of
Palestinians from Gaza are held in conditions that violate the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment.
In light of the harrowing testimonies and accounts of torture and other ill-treatment shared by released
detainees and the uncertainty and anguish that the families of Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed
have been going through, we urge you to immediately disclose the whereabouts of Nidal al-Waheidi and
Haitham Abdelwahed, detail the legal grounds for their detention, ensure their humane treatment, including
access to medical services and protection from torture and other ill-treatment, and grant them access to the
lawyers appointed by their families. Unless they are charged promptly with a recognizable criminal offence
and granted a fair trial in accordance with international standards, they must be immediately released.
Yours sincerely,
Amnesty International South Africa Supporter
